Everything has a history. I'm a historian. This blog is about the threads of history that I perceive in the world around me. I welcome any comments that bring light to the subject at hand.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

An example of humanity's propensity (nay, need) to discern meaning out of patterns of any kind

Remember hearing about the direct correlation between Washington Redskins wins/losses in their game immediately preceding a presidential election, and the win/loss of the incumbent party? Fascinating!

Isn't it great how readily we discern meaning and portent from patterns we observe? Sometimes this meaning-making process can be fruitful, sometimes it can lead to delusion, and sometimes it can just be fun & entertaining. In any case, there is meaning to be found when we examine such cases of meaning-making -- unless, of course, I'm just creating my own meaning in all of this, which may, itself, provide us some meaning about the ways in which I create my own meaning, which may mean something.*

Here are some thought-provoking words from snopes.com that I couldn't have written more clearly and concisely:

"Our desire to understand and assert some control over the world around us is often manifested by our attempts to find predictive signs that enable us to prognosticate events -- even when there is no seeming connection between predictor and event. Sometimes one natural phenomenon supposedly forecasts another, as in the belief that a groundhog's seeing his shadow on February 2 portends another six weeks of winter. In other instances the linkage is between affairs of mankind, as in the superstition that the winners of football's Super Bowl augurs that year's stock market performance (or vice-versa)."